Jyapu girls during a festival: Kathmandu

Jyapus are the indigenous people of Kathmandu Valley but now can be found throughout Nepal. They mostly live in the Nepali cities of Lalitpur, Kathmandu, Kirtipur and Bhaktapur. Jyapu communities have higher stake in preserving ancient cultures existed from thousands of years tradition. 

Pandit

A pandit is a scholar and a teacher, particularly one skilled in the Sanskrit language, who has mastered the four Vedic scriptures, Hindu rituals, Hindu law, religion and/or philosophy under a Guru in a Gurukul or has been tutored under the ancient vedic Guru Shishya academic tradition.

Majhi

                                              Tribal community of fishermen in Nepal called the Majhis.

Smoked buff Choila

Choila, which is grilled (buffalo) meat dressed in spicy oil seasoning.  Choila (also spelled Chwelaa) is a classic Newari dish from Nepal usually paired with crispy dry flattened (or beaten) de-husked rice.

Smoked buff Choila

Ingredients

1 kg boneless buff chops

Marinade:
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon chili paste
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1/8 teaspoon Hing powder (Asafetida)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
Salt and Pepper

Garnish:

2 tablespoons mustard oil

1 tablespoons fenugreek seed

1 cup green garlic, cut in 1 inch length

Instruction:
Smoke-grill the buff chops until cooked through. Cut into 1/2 inch cubes when done. Combine all marinade ingredients and make a smooth paste. 

In a bowl, mix the smooth paste with the grilled buff cubes, gradually pouring two tablespoons of mustard oil, toss it well to coat thoroughly. Marinade the mixture for 2 hours.  

To garnish, in a non-stick pan heat two tablespoons of oil, splitter fenugreek till it turns dark. Pour this oil mixture over the marinated meat add green garlic. Toss the whole mixture well and serve with beaten-rice and wine. 

Momo-cha

This stuffed dumpling preparation is one of the most popular dishes in Nepal. This dish is an example of Tibetan influence in Nepali cuisine.

Momo-cha (Nepali Meat Dumplings) Recipe

Ingredients

 Dough for wrappers:

 4 cups All-purpose flour

 1 tablespoon oil

 1 cup water

 Pinch of salt

Filling:

1/2 kg ground buff or chicken

2 cup onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 fresh red chilies, minced

1 cup Nepali cheese (homemade paneer), roughly crushed (optional)

2 tablespoon clarified butter

Salt to taste

Instruction

Dough: 
In a large bowl combine flour, oil, salt and water. Mix well, knead until the dough becomes homogeneous in texture, about 8-10 min. Cover and let stand for at least 30 min. Knead well again before making wrappers. 

Filling: 
In a large bowl combine all filling ingredients. Mix well, adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow all ingredients to impart their unique flavors. This also improves the consistency of the filling. 

Assembly: 
Give the dough a final knead. Prepare 1-in. dough balls. Take a ball, roll between your palms to spherical shape. Dust working board with dry flour. 

On the board gently flatten the ball with your palm to about 2-in circle. Make a few semi-flattened circles, cover with a bowl. Use a rolling pin to roll out each flattened circle into a wrapper. For well executed MOMOs, it is essential that the middle portion of the wrapper be slightly thicker than the edges to ensure the structural integrity of dumplings during packing and steaming. 

Hold the edges of the semi-flattened dough with one hand and with the other hand begin rolling the edges of the dough out, swirling a bit at a time. Continue until the wrapper attains 3-in diameter circular shape. 

Repeat with the remaining semi-flattened dough circles. 

Cover with bowl to prevent from drying. 

For packing hold wrapper on one palm, put one tablespoon of filling mixture and with the other hand bring all edges together to the center, making the pleats. Pinch and twist the pleats to ensure the absolute closure of the stuffed dumpling. This holds the key to good tasting, juicy dumplings. Heat up a steamer, oil the steamer rack well. This is critical because it will prevent dumplings from sticking. Arrange uncooked MOMOs in the steamer. Close the lid, and allow steaming until the dumplings are cooked through, about 10-15 min. Take the dumplings off the steamer, and immediately serve. 

Momo achar (sauce): 
100 gm fresh tomato 
1 tsp. minced ginger 
1 tsp. minced garlic 
1/2 teaspoon timur (Szechwan pepper)

1 tsp. roasted sesame seed

¼ cup roasted soybean
1/2 tsp. chili powder 
2 tsp. lemon juice 
1/2 tsp. pepper 

Salt to test

Mix all ingredients and grind and make pest.

To serve, arrange the cooked MOMOs on a plate dressed with tomato achar (sauce) and enjoy! 

Aware of theft

Dopali child and mother

Dolpa is the largest district of Nepal covering 5.36% of the total landmass of the country. Located between 28°24’ N - 29°43’ N latitude, and 82°24’ E - 83°38’ E longitude, the elevation in Dolpa ranges from 1,525 to 7,625 m (5,003 to 25,016 ft) above sea level. A large portion of the district is protected by Shey Phoksundo National Park. The name is derived from the 12th century Shey Monastery and the deepest lake in Nepal, the Phoksundo Lake, both of which lie in the district. The park protects endangered animals like the snow leopard, musk deer and the Tibetan wolf. Shey Phoksundo is the largest and the only trans-Himalayan National Park in Nepal

Village school window

Schools in villages are grim with a high dropout rate. Schools don’t have sufficient teachers; the ones they have are poorly trained, and schools lack educational materials. School-aged children migrate to urban areas to work as domestic servants or laborers.

Phewa Taal

Karnali Bridge

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